Warriors optimistic foundation is in place

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The Warriors have made the playoffs only once in the past 18 seasons, and the team seemed committed to rebuilding mode this year.

The highlight of the strike-shortened season seemed to be the March 13 trade of Monta Ellis for center Andrew Bogut, who was injured early in the season while still with the Milwaukee Bucks and did not play a game for the Warriors all year. The front office touted the move as one for the future, though it did not play well with the team’s fans.

With Bogut joined on the sidelines by Stephen Curry and, for the last few weeks of the season, David Lee, the team was without its best players, allowing rookie Klay Thompson and other young players to develop their individual games.

“We’ve all got a bright future,” Thompson said, “and this, at the end of the season, playing those minutes, will pay dividends in the future.”

Bob Myers, who replaced Larry Riley as general manager on Tuesday, said the team now has a plan for the future in place that didn’t exist before owner Joe Lacob took over the team prior to this season. Lacob said Bogut was a big part of that vision, though they are not done.

“We addressed what we think was a major need for a very long time for this team,” Lacob said.

Myers echoed Lacob’s assessment of the trade deadline, and said the team will continue to keep an eye out for the players needed to surround the new core of Curry, Lee and Bogut in order to get the club back to the postseason for the first time since 2007.

“With a healthy ball club next year, I think we’re going to be a team that has to be reckoned with,” Myers said. The Warriors still need to wait to see if they will be able to use their first-round draft pick to help with those efforts.

The pick was included in a trade with the stipulation that Golden State would keep the pick if it landed in the top seven.